Clay and his men were situated outside of the camp with the dark elf slaves. If the plan failed, Buchanan and his most loyal mercenaries were to leave with the salves. Clay was one of those loyal men.
Clay was sitting on a log, watching the sun fall behind the walls of the camp as if it was landing inside the camp. Clay had his sword with him sleeping in its sheath, waiting to be used again to cut flesh. And unlike his quiet sword, Clay was restless. He wants to join the men and cut his way through gambeson, flesh, and bones, but instead, he was tasked to keep the slaves safe. He couldn't kill any of them if they try to escape since all he had to do was yell at them to stay. Clay found his position a boring one.
His men did not think the same. They were more than happy to be far away from the potential threat coming inside the cave. They remember vividly the massacre that happened behind their back. The peasant levy they rose was easily cut down by the Golden Condottiero, and some of the men at arms were also killed with relative ease. They don't want to be next in the list of dead men in the hands of Bret Hart.
Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for Clay, a different threat was coming for them. Before the men and slaves could notice, a dozen or so gas bombs were hurled towards them, releasing a yellowish fume that caused those to inhale it to fall asleep. The only one to notice was Clay and quickly swatted the bomb hurling towards him away.
The yellow clouds quickly dissipated, and those that inhaled it were sleeping soundly. The only ones awake were Clay and the sword he unsheathed for battle. Clay swung his blade in the direction of the bombs sending a gust of mana at the trees and shrubs.
Five figures leaped out from the shadows to avoid Clay's attack. It was Sun, Smoke, Rock, Shuja, and Stick, and seeing them made Clay smile. Five against one may not be favorable for those outnumbered, but Clay only looked at the positive; he had more victims to slaughter.
"Be careful," Sun warned, "That guy is Clay, Green's brother. And he's a sadist."
"It's you," Clay pointed his sword at Sun, "The one with the goblin. To think you had goblin slave of your own."
"Slaves?"
"Who hired you to come here? Was it the dark elves?"
"I don't know what that guy is asking us about, but we should just smash his head now!" Rock yelled before charging towards him.
Clay swung his sword towards Rock, releasing another gust of mana. Rock managed to dodge the air slash attack and got around Clay. Rock imbued his fist with mana and delivered a devastating punch, but Clay simply parried the attack with his sword and grabbed Rock and threw him at the sleeping slaves.
Smoke managed to catch Rock before squashed the sleeping elves with his heavy body. Sun was next to charge in, exchanging blade with Clay. Their mana slashed through the air and earth as their swords clashed. "Sun stop!" Smoke yelled.
Sun stepped back and saw the destruction around them, with one of the mana sent flying away, nearly beheading a dark elf woman. Fighting Clay was proving to be dangerous not for the brother but for the innocent lives around them. And Clay noticed this and, without hesitation, began to send out a flurry of attacks towards the slaves and even at his men.
Rock, Sun, and Smoke quickly ran to block the incoming attack, but with the people surrounding them held hostage, they could not attack Clay with reckless abandonment. Fortunately, Clay's attack seized.
While the brother was busy blocking Clay's attacks, Stick was winding his sickle. Once it was fast enough, Stick swung it at Clay. The sickle wrapped around Clay's arms, tying his hands together. He was now trapped in Stick's knot. "Go!" Stick yelled at Shuja and his brothers, "I'll take care of him."
"Alright Stick, we'll leave it up to you," Sun said.
Shuja patted Stick on the shoulder, "Good luck." She told him.
The rest of the group left Stick and Clay and ran to the camp. A large gate stood in their way, but Sun knew the key to opening it, a massive fire blast. The gate exploded and burnt a sunder, letting them enter the lion's den.
Black Crows guarding the back quickly retaliated when they hear the large explosion behind them, but the brothers smashed through them like butter. "Who the hell are those?" Jackson draws his sword out, "Go and get rid of them!" He commanded his men.
"No!" Horace replied, "I will deal with them." Horace rushed into battle, wearing nothing but armored pants. He tackled Rock and pinned him to the ground, "Bararara! You're the biggest goblins I've ever seen. Are you the muse I've been waiting for?"
Smoke ran to Rock, "No, but this is!" Smoke smashed Horace's face with his bronze club, sending Horace rolling away from Rock. But just as quickly he fell, Horace jumped right back up with a smile on his face.
His figure was large and imposing, even for Rock. "And I thought I was big!" Rock commented.
Meanwhile, Shuja grabbed one of the men and interrogated him. The man told her and the brothers that Artio was with their Captain at the barn. "Guys!" Sun called out to them, "Shuja and I are going to the barn."
"No worries, leave this to us!" Rock gave a thumbs up.
"Good, I rather not have any distractions," Horace said.
"Rock, I'm going towards that cave over there," Smoke said. "You think you can handle this guy?"
"Of course, I can!"
"Good, I'll deal with the one behind him," Smoke pointed at Jackson.
While Rock and Smoke pick their fight, Sun and Shuja arrived at the barn. "They're inside," Shuja said. "I can feel their presence."
"You can feel them too!" Sun reacted surprise.
"Yeah, did Artio teach you about it?"
"About what?"
"Isiptale,"
"No, but let's talk about that later. It looks like we have one last obstacle to face." A mercenary was guarding the entrance. His legs were shaking in fear after witnessing the monsters in front of him punch through his strong peers without a single scratch on them. "Don't you dare enter!" He yelled at the two.
"Kid," Sun calmly walked to him and grabbed his shoulder, "We both know the only one that could beat me is your Captain. So how about you move, don't fight his battle kid."
"And why the fuck you should I?" He trusted his spear, but the tip shattered when it pierced through Sun's gambeson. Mana coated his abs, protecting it from the attack. The kid backed off, realizing the futility of his attack, but he still did not want to give them an inch of advantage over them, so he warned them, "I admit that you're strong, but our Captain is strong enough to fight a troll by himself and kill it like it's nothing. You think you're strong enough to do that?" Shuja started laughing. "Why is your goblin laughing?"
Sun cracked a smile, "Because I also killed trolls before. Granted, I had help, but I'm confident I can beat by myself." Shuja and Sun opened the door walked inside. Not a single soul was in the room, but the Black Crows' Captain and Artio. A red glowing orb flicker around Artio's neck while she screams in pain.
"Master!" Shuja leaped to battle with her bow and arrow, "Let go of her!" Shuja sent an arrow flying towards Buchanan.
"Block it!" He commanded, and Artio caught the arrow before it could reach Buchanan's head. "I didn't think you lot would be brave enough to come here. Did you bring your little goblin band with you too? I still didn't get the chance to slaughter your kind after getting distracted by Artio's crimson hair." Buchanan brushed her hair with his hand, "But since you're here, might as well have some fun."
"There won't be any fun once I beat the life out of you!" Sun charged towards him, "Shuja, cover me!"
Shuja sent a volley of arrows at Buchanan, all of which were deflected by Artio's arrows. "Master, what are you doing?" Shuja was shocked to see Artio so eager to protect the horrid man.
"Kill that red goblin, and I'll handle the halfling!" Artio jumped over Shuja and shot an arrow infused with mana that nearly tore off Shuja's legs if she did not dodge it on time.
"Shuja, I'm sorry," Artio said with tears flowing down her eyes before shooting at her student.
Meanwhile, Buchanan pulled at his sword and sent his mana flying behind Sun, then he disappeared. But Sun knew where he was going to appear. He sensed Buchanan's mana gather behind him just as he disappeared from his vision, and without hesitation, Sun stomps the ground and ignited his mana. Once Buchanan teleported behind Sun, the fire Sun created consumed him.
His impenetrable armor protected him from the flame, but his vision was impaired, so he could not see Sun swinging his sword. A loud sound of metal clashing against one another echoed through the barn. When the flames subsided, Buchanan's shiny helmet was gone exposing his head. Bewildered by the attack, Buchanan left himself open for another strike to the head, and Sun did not waste a single second.
Buchanan, out of desperation, released his mana to teleport away from Sun, dropping his sword on the floor. He managed to escape the strike for it to only leave a small cut on his cheek. Now he was on his knee on the base of the stairs where the cries of children and women coming from the second level could be heard.
He reached for his head and touched his gray hair. His hands slowly traveled down his nose and to his cheek, where Sun cut him. He was missing an integral part of his armor, and his body began to rattle. He was both angry and afraid. Angry at Sun and fearful of what he could do to him, and his anger turned into hate the more he thought about the attack.
Buchanan turned around and saw Sun running towards him. "You want to fight," Buchanan whispered, "No, I will not give you fight. I'll torture you instead." Buchanan got up on his feet and ran up the stairs, making sure Sun ascends with him. The two of them disappeared in the dark abyss of the second floor.